Study reveals that Qatar’s water usage jumps 70% in seven years

Water consumption in Qatar increased by 70% in the seven years up to 2013, the first ever water statistics published by Doha has revealed.

More than 740mn cubic metres of water was used in 2013, up from just over 437mn in 2006, reflecting the country’s rapid expansion, figures from the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS) show.

‘Government’ water consumption grew the most during that time period, increasing by almost 400%, said the MDPS.

Industry use was up by more than 200%, though the biggest consumers were agriculture and residential households.

Residential households used up some 245mn cubic metres of water in 2013, up from 130mn in 2006.

In 2006, fewer than 967,000 people lived in Qatar.

By 2013, that number had risen to 2.1mn as the country embarked upon a massive transformation. Currently, the population is around 2.5mn.

Qatar’s main source of water is desalinated seawater, which is used for drinking water, and groundwater, which is used for agriculture.

“Water is life, therefore the protection of national natural freshwater resources is part of our National Development Strategy," said MDPS minister Saleh Al Nabit.

As well as being a scarce resource, water security forms a major component of Qatar’s ‘National Vision 2030.’

This is a 2008 government-launched strategy designed to help transform Qatar “into an advanced society capable of achieving sustainable development".

The National Vision identified that “Qatar is facing major environmental challenges that need to be appropriately resolved, particularly achieving water security".

Courtesy: thenational.ae